A patient must be provided with respiratory assistance during surgery under general anaesthesia. It is common practice during such surgical procedures to insert an endotracheal tube into the patient's mouth, through the larynx and into the trachea. The endotracheal tube is then connected to a ventilator to assist breathing. In practice, the endotracheal tube may be used to deliver oxygen and/or anaesthetic gas to the patient. Typically, these endotracheal tubes have at one end a radially expansible cuff, such as an inflatable balloon, which helps to secure and seal the endotracheal tube in the throat.
Cuffless endotracheal tubes are often used in pediatric surgical procedures (e.g., tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies) due to the smaller tracheas of children. Use of the cuffless endotracheal tube can result in retrograde gas leak through the larynx and into the oropharynx. Such gases may include oxygen and nitrous oxide, both of which support combustion. The combination of these gases leaking into the oropharynx may create an environment where combustion is possible, especially when electrocautery procedures are used.
Since electrocautery is used in most pediatric tonsillectomy procedures to seal or cauterize tissue, the use of electrocautery in an enriched oxygenated environment can lead to combustion and resulting catastrophic fires. In addition, electrocautery procedures can generate smoke and thus obscure the surgical field in which the surgeon is operating.
To minimize such dangers, a separate "scavenger" suction device is sometimes used during surgery to suction and exhaust any smoke and/or gas present as a result of retrograde leakage. This separate scavenger suction device must be inserted into the throat area by a nurse or surgeon, thus further crowding the limited area in which the surgeon must operate. Furthermore, if suctioning is not performed, or is not effective to remove all combustible gases, the risk of combustion remains.
It would thus be desirable to provide a device that removes leaking gases during surgery to prevent dangerous combustion and also removes any unwanted smoke produced during surgery without further cluttering the surgical area.